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How to label?

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 3:19 pm
by Simple Minded
Subtitle: Humans are loaded with hypocrisy... they're so full of it, their eyes are brown.

The hippie selling Che' and Marx tee-shirts instead of giving them away free.

The university professor who proclaims that higher education should be free to all, and yet demands a paycheck every two weeks.

The person who moves from location X to location Y to pay less in taxes and then bitches about fewer public services.

College students who think college should be free, but expect to get a paying job after graduation.

Re: How to label?

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 4:02 pm
by NapLajoieonSteroids
Simple Minded wrote:Subtitle: Humans are loaded with hypocrisy... they're so full of it, their eyes are brown.

The hippie selling Che' and Marx tee-shirts instead of giving them away free.

The university professor who proclaims that higher education should be free to all, and yet demands a paycheck every two weeks.

The person who moves from location X to location Y to pay less in taxes and then bitches about fewer public services.

College students who think college should be free, but expect to get a paying job after graduation.
That's not hypocrisy but inconsistency- albeit some of it gross, negligent and vicious.

But as Thomas MacCauly pointed out in a different context:

"The doctrine of reprobation, in the judgment of many very able men, follows by syllogistic necessity from the doctrine of election. Others conceive that the Antinomian heresy directly follows from the doctrine of reprobation; and it is very generally thought that licentiousness and cruelty of the worst description are likely to be the fruits, as they often have been the fruits, of Antinomian opinions. This chain of reasoning, we think, is as perfect in all its parts as that which makes out a Papist to be necessarily a traitor. Yet, it would be rather a strong measure to hang all the Calvinists, on the ground that if they were spared, they would infallibly commit all the atrocities of Matthias and Knipperdoling. For, reason the matter as we may, experience shows us that a man may believe in election without believing in reprobation, that he may believe in reprobation without being an Antinomian, and that he may be an Antinomian without being a bad citizen. Man, in short, is so inconsistent a creature that it is impossible to reason from his belief to his conduct, or from one part of his belief to another."

Re: How to label?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:24 am
by Simple Minded
NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:

But as Thomas MacCauly pointed out in a different context:

"......Man, in short, is so inconsistent a creature that it is impossible to reason from his belief to his conduct, or from one part of his belief to another."
Nap,

:D :D :D Thank you! that is one of the most astute observations of all time. I vaguely recall reading it long ago, but it has been long lost to my memory. Thanks!

We see the faults of others, but not our own. Rationalization, a survival mechanism? Internal therapeutic software?

Why do we expect the others to maintain a higher standard than ourselves?

Re: How to label?

Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:29 pm
by noddy
Simple Minded wrote:
NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:

But as Thomas MacCauly pointed out in a different context:

"......Man, in short, is so inconsistent a creature that it is impossible to reason from his belief to his conduct, or from one part of his belief to another."
Nap,

:D :D :D Thank you! that is one of the most astute observations of all time. I vaguely recall reading it long ago, but it has been long lost to my memory. Thanks!

We see the faults of others, but not our own. Rationalization, a survival mechanism? Internal therapeutic software?

Why do we expect the others to maintain a higher standard than ourselves?
tis a brilliant quote.

Re: How to label?

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 9:38 am
by manolo
Simple Minded wrote:Subtitle: Humans are loaded with hypocrisy... they're so full of it, their eyes are brown.

The hippie selling Che' and Marx tee-shirts instead of giving them away free.

The university professor who proclaims that higher education should be free to all, and yet demands a paycheck every two weeks.

The person who moves from location X to location Y to pay less in taxes and then bitches about fewer public services.

College students who think college should be free, but expect to get a paying job after graduation.
SM,

I am not a 'leftie' myself, but might offer them a little support here. I can think of a couple of myths that conservatives sell, often with success.

1. A leftie cannot engage in commerce.

2. A leftie must be a pacifist.

Alex.

Re: How to label?

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 11:38 am
by Simple Minded
manolo wrote:
Simple Minded wrote:Subtitle: Humans are loaded with hypocrisy... they're so full of it, their eyes are brown.

The hippie selling Che' and Marx tee-shirts instead of giving them away free.

The university professor who proclaims that higher education should be free to all, and yet demands a paycheck every two weeks.

The person who moves from location X to location Y to pay less in taxes and then bitches about fewer public services.

College students who think college should be free, but expect to get a paying job after graduation.
SM,

I am not a 'leftie' myself, but might offer them a little support here. I can think of a couple of myths that conservatives sell, often with success.

1. A leftie cannot engage in commerce.

2. A leftie must be a pacifist.

Alex.
Amen,

talk is cheap, personal cost may not be so cheap and the cost is always, um, personal, so actions always speak louder than words,

so throw the labels already....... :D

Re: How to label?

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:50 pm
by Nonc Hilaire
I think there is some confusion here about Marxism. The communism of Castro, Lenin and Mao claimed Marxism as a foundation but that was a deliberate rhetorical misappropriation. Marxism did not cause totalitarianism. It was used as a façade.

I don't recall Marx saying, " To each according to his desires, and from each according to his possessions". I think Marxism would be invoked more accurately if the dole was strictly limited to needs, and the idle rich required to perform community service.

Left/Right, Communist/Capitalist are false dichotomies and using those labels is façile.

Re: How to label?

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 3:06 pm
by Simple Minded
Nonc Hilaire wrote:I think there is some confusion here about Marxism. The communism of Castro, Lenin and Mao claimed Marxism as a foundation but that was a deliberate rhetorical misappropriation. Marxism did not cause totalitarianism. It was used as a façade.

I don't recall Marx saying, " To each according to his desires, and from each according to his possessions". I think Marxism would be invoked more accurately if the dole was strictly limited to needs, and the idle rich required to perform community service.

Left/Right, Communist/Capitalist are false dichotomies and using those labels is façile.
Thank you.

As someone else noted, abilities are easy to hide, and needs are easy to exaggerate.

Re: How to label?

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 11:55 pm
by manolo
Simple Minded wrote: As someone else noted, abilities are easy to hide, and needs are easy to exaggerate.
SM,

I think both can be revealed by an 'all you can eat' Chinese buffet.

Alex.

Re: How to label?

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 1:33 am
by Simple Minded
manolo wrote:
Simple Minded wrote: As someone else noted, abilities are easy to hide, and needs are easy to exaggerate.
SM,

I think both can be revealed by an 'all you can eat' Chinese buffet.

Alex.
:lol: Amen. never underestimate human potential.

Re: How to label?

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 4:25 pm
by kmich
Simple Minded wrote:
NapLajoieonSteroids wrote:

But as Thomas MacCauly pointed out in a different context:

"......Man, in short, is so inconsistent a creature that it is impossible to reason from his belief to his conduct, or from one part of his belief to another."
Nap,

:D :D :D Thank you! that is one of the most astute observations of all time. I vaguely recall reading it long ago, but it has been long lost to my memory. Thanks!

We see the faults of others, but not our own. Rationalization, a survival mechanism? Internal therapeutic software?

Why do we expect the others to maintain a higher standard than ourselves?
Which standard, and for which need? The problem is that human needs are contradictory and lead to the inconsistency in our attitudes, standards, and behaviors as Nap has already pointed out. As John Gray put it in his Modus Vivendi, "It is because human needs are contradictory that no human life can be perfect. That does not mean that human life is imperfect. It means that the idea of perfection has no meaning."

Sober reflection demands a humility in the face of this human mixed-upness which calls upon us to not gain satisfaction from our cherished beliefs and indeed to hold them very lightly. If we don't, our usual confusion and sinfulness will throw them in the dirt of disappointment with ourselves sooner or later. Faith and repentance is a way of living and not rooted in a set of ideas, beliefs, or standards. It is the way of perfection, not the idea.

Re: How to label?

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 12:52 pm
by noddy
you need to vote for team red or team blue and then you get labeled as such, if you change your team you get labeled swinger.

everything has labels, some people call em words.